8 Oct 2018

Defending champions Ali Farag and Nour El Tayeb began their title defences in the FS Investments US Open in style with victories in round two of the PSA World Tour Platinum event at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Egyptians Farag and El Tayeb etched their names into the history books last year after becoming the first married couple in sporting history to win the same major sports title on the same day. World No.2 Farag began his title assault at the 2018 edition with a 3/0 win over Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller.

"It's never easy to start off against Nicky," said Farag.

"He's a very tricky player and he's very dangerous at the front of the court, so I had to keep my metal and keep it deep in the corners because I know that if I leave it at the front then I can't really read him because he's got all of those trick shots.

"One or two of those games could have gone either way, so I'm happy to get off with a 3/0 win."

Elshorbagy, a two-time US Open champion, lost out to Farag in last year's final, but he laid down a marker for the rest of the tournament as he downed training partner 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 Harrity in just 27 minutes.

"I really love playing here," said reigning World Champion Elshorbagy, who fell to Farag in the Oracle NetSuite Open final earlier this week.

"I have played in three finals here and won twice. This is also where I got to World No.1 in 2013 when I won the tournament, so I have good memories here and I really hope that I can keep that momentum going and hopefully I play another good event here."

In the day's longest match, world No.20 Declan James came back from 2/0 down to defeat fellow Englishman Adrian Waller in a marathon 101-minute spectacle. His reward is a third round matchup with 2016 World Champion Gawad.

"Lusty and I have played a lot of times," said former world No.6 Sobhy.

"We know each other's game and I know how deadly she can be, but I was looking forward to getting into a solid match. She played really well so I really had to step up and play at that top level and I'm happy to win and move onto the next round."

Sarah-Jane Perry also won on day two as she defeated Egypt's Nada Abbas. England's world No.8 faces India's Joshna Chinappa in the next round as she looks to follow up the Oracle NetSuite Open title that she won earlier this week.